Assassin’s Creed 3 Tournament Report: The Finalists

The Top Tier Tactics November FFA tournament for Xbox 360 (what a mouthful) is now ready to move on to the Final Round, where the top seven competitors from our qualifying brackets will vie for the title “Person Who Won a Single Tournament on an Obscure Gaming Strategy Site.”

Of course, if you’ve seen the game footage (conveniently pasted below), you already know how these matches turned out. And while you’re certainly free to watch them in their hour-long entirety, I’ve also put together bracket-by-bracket recaps to bring you up to speed.

In Bracket A, fallenbloodeyez ran away with the lead after successfully executing an Animus Hack. While Apexx27 and PheonixWartooth were nipping at FBE’s heels most of the match, they failed to prevent and recover from his devestating Kill Streak massacre. Prior to that, gameplay had been relatively chaotic, with most players converging in the central plaza of Animus Core.

In Bracket B, WHU BloodRose continued the longstanding tradition of people with “blood” in their gamertags winning the match. She pulled off several clutch stealth plays and did an excellent job of fending off pursuers, which included yours truly and BudgingEmperor0. As this bracket had a high number of no-shows, kills came in quick succession of one another as targets and pursuers circled endlessly.

In Bracket C, first-minute foreplay gave way to a commanding lead by Hakimakitak, who pulled a very successful Animus Hack fairly early into the match. As players ran for their lives from his death funnel, Hakimakitak chased them down, securing a lead that temporarily reached into the thousands. While ShinRyuRQs and The Pr0paganda attempted to make a comeback, the Hak Attak provided too great a lead to surpass.

Bracket D flushed out another wave of no-shows, ultimately allowing Uns0und to secure victory against a scant few competitors. Fierce fighting inside the brewery led to a large number of overlapping Smoke Bombs, as well as a great frequency of corner kills and stuns. Most of the participants, including TheAnomaly020 and Evil MrMuffinz proved their skill at identifying and stunning pursuers.

Bracket E’s frozen landscape provided the backdrop for Sryan21′s doggedly fought victory. First place was juggled between a variety of players throughout the match, with The Subject 0 and FrozenHammer offering the stiffest competition. The large, open nature of Northwest Passage forced many combatants into high profile, which led to a large number of hotly contested kills.

In Bracket F, many well-known players went in, but only one came out victor: Punkachump. Facing off against YouTube stars RaininStormwake, Loomer979, and… me, Punkachump was forced to outwit and outrace an incredibly skilled opposition. He also contended with Templarkiller88, who temporarily stole the lead from him on several occasions. Ultimately, Punkachump’s cool head gave him a narrow but deserved win.

Finally, Bracket G gave the [VAA] clan a savior, JTS812. Fending off foes like A Templar Bunny and Koala Jam, JTS812 played safe and smart, allowing him to build momentum as the game marched on. I’d like to make a special note: Blake Draco sacrificed his spot in the tournament after connection issues made it clear that only he or A Templar Bunny could play at once. Kudos to Blake for his selfless act of sportsmanship!

Tournament Finals information

The tournament finals are currently being scheduled, and will most likely occur the week of November 26th. Our seven finalists will compete in one round each of Wanted, Deathmatch, and Assassinate, with players being awarded points based on their end-of-match placements. If there’s a tie, a round of Simple Deathmatch will decide the final score. Whoever has the best overall placings will be crowned our champion, with everyone else going home in utter disgrace.

So, who do you think will take home the Gold, Silver, and Copper medals? Did you see any surprises this tournament, and if so, where? What are the lessons you think you learned by either participating or watching? And, most importantly, how would you rate Disruption on a scale from 1 to Hilarious?